It is focusing for now on Quarriers, which aside from the late 19th-century village near Bridge of Weir, also had smaller bases in Glasgow and Ardrossan and Largs in North Ayrshire. The village started to be “wound down” in the 1980s, the inquiry has heard.

Detective Inspector Des McKenna, of Police Scotland, was involved in preparing an overview report for the inquiry about investigations that have taken place over a number of years into allegations of abuse of children at establishments run by Quarriers. A total of 196 people have complained of abuse across all the Quarriers institutions, he told the probe yesterday.

“They were complaining of a variety of forms of abuse – sexual, physical or indeed both,” Mr Peoples said.

Mr McKenna said 183 individuals were accused of abuse across the various premises, although not all were able to be identified by a full name.

The large majority, 159, were linked to the village, the inquiry heard. Of those, 107 were male and 52 were female and they were made up of staff members, residents and “external” people. The inquiry heard how the complaints resulted in 27 reports being submitted to prosecutors.